


Mother.

by janetcarter



Category: His Dark Materials (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Motherhood, Triple Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28352034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janetcarter/pseuds/janetcarter
Summary: Marisa wonders if she would ever be called such a thing.
Relationships: Lyra Belacqua & Marisa Coulter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Mother.

It was a simple word, one Marisa had never before been called.

She had said it plenty of times as a child to her own mother, small voice unwavering in obedience. But Lyra had been an infant when Marisa had last seen her. The only sounds she had made then were shrill cries and mindless gurgles, and then...

And then she was gone.

Marisa lived a decade knowing only silence in her child's place. In that time, she did not know what Lyra's voice sounded like. She could not imagine how it would feel to hear "mother" shaping lips that resembled her own. And even now, with Lyra living there under the guise of mentorship, she wondered if she ever would.

What they had was imperfect. Lyra was still far too rowdy for London life, far too influenced by her loose upbringing at Jordan College. But, despite being a work in progress, they had a promising future ahead of them; so long as Marisa did not shatter the trust she was working so hard to build.

When she had first plotted their meeting, she was confident in her lie, confident that it would be best for the both of them. After all, what would people say if they knew? What would  _ Lyra _ say? She never would have come along after such a perceived betrayal, especially with the stories Asriel had spun of her heritage.

There was no point in the truth besides bringing detriment down upon their relationship. Desiring whatever it was a simple word symbolized was foolish, and Marisa Coulter was not foolish.

And yet she still lied awake at night in silence, waiting for her monkey to return from the vents, imagining what it might sound like to hear "Mother" at the end of Lyra's ritual "Good night."


End file.
